Psychotic  Episode 2: Destiny's Call
by Glod
Summary: Jay's first mission up against the wrath of Dr. Destiny!
1. Mission

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Mission**

Now I know what 'bittersweet' means. I still can't believe they let me stay here at the Justice League Watchtower. I love it up here- it's in space, where nothing can get to me. And everyone up here is a superhero, so they know what it's like to be different, and to have to hide things. I don't feel so abnormal.

Of course, they still all think I'm weird. That's got to be a whole new level of weird. The world's weirdos think I'm weird.

But every time I think how lucky I am to be here, I have to admit that my other me was right.

_Told you so._

And she lets me know it every minute of every day.

_You bet I do._

It's been a month since they decided I wasn't too crazy to stay. Zatanna's been training me even harder than she was before. And she arranged for Wildcat to give me combat training- intensive combat training. It seems Zatanna doesn't believe free time is good for me. Considering the messes I've put myself in, I'd say that was a fair assessment.

Everything hurts, all the time. It's a direct result of all that combat training. The crazy thing is, the other me is an awful lot better at combat than I am. I still own with magic, but she can kick my figurative ass in combat. It's teaching me to share a bit more though. Ever since she pulled that stunt in the cafeteria where she locked my legs, we've been experimenting with who controls what.

_We're getting good, too._

On our own time, we've been practicing with both magic and martial arts- at the same time. If I control the magic, the other me takes the body and kicks the crap out of the sandbags in the gym. We didn't know we could do that.

_Now we do. _

Life is good.

_Life is good. _

---

Jay stood in the Watchtower control room, at the busiest time of day. She gloried for a minute in the luxury of being able to be here without worrying that someone would notice her and send her away. They'd already decided she could stay. She'd been spending progressively more time here, just watching the Justice League do their thing. J'onn coordinated everything with a calm confidence that was therapeutic to watch. Jay wanted to be as centered as J'onn one day.

_I don't want to be like J'onn _ever_! Too… unemotional._

_Fine, one half of me wants to be like J'onn one day. _

Jay was starting to get the hang of things. An alarm went off; J'onn assessed the situation and sent the appropriate League members to sort things out. Jay watched their actions on the multiple viewing screens in the watchtower. She was learning a lot about tactics in different situations, and a lot about what each member of the League could do. There were so many of them –

_But I have a photographic memory. So we can keep perfect track._

Jay couldn't believe how well she was working with herself these days.

The beauty of the arrangement was that everyone was too busy to notice she was there, so they pretty much left her alone anyway, just the way she liked things. She found an out of the way corner and stood as still as she knew how and just watched everything happen between training with Zatanna and Wildcat. It kept her occupied.

---

Batman looked across the control room at the girl- Jay. He had never seen anyone so young stay so still. He wasn't even sure he'd seen her blink in the last five minutes. She'd positioned herself up against a wall with a perfect view of all the screens, and seemed to be watching them intently. Nobody even noticed her. She stood so quietly that she seemed part of the room itself, and the people bustling around the expansive room treated her as such. It was… impressive.

Batman looked over at J'onn. "Is she always there?"

J'onn glanced at Batman, understanding who he was referring to. "She is not always there. I believe she is receiving a lot of training. But she does seem to spend most of her free time watching. I believe it is beneficial for her."

Batman nodded in agreement. The two stood in silence, watching the various disaster situations acted out on the screens.

Their quiet was disturbed by the arrival of Flash, who was never quiet or still.

"Who died?" He asked, by way of greeting, smirking at their somber expressions. Not that somber was unusual for either Bats or J'onn. Flash made a quick review of the screens, checking out what was happening. "Everything seems to be in order here. How about a coffee break?"

Both J'onn and Batman stared at Flash.

"Oh come on guys! I hate taking coffee breaks by myself!"

Both J'onn and Batman continued to stare at Flash.

Flash sighed and turned to leave. "Fine, fine, be so boring." He called over his shoulder as he sauntered out.

Just as Flash was about to step through the door, another alarm blared out across the control room. A frantic call came in from Black Canary.

"J'onn! We need back-up! We've got Dr. Destiny down here! He's already got Green Arrow in some kind of sleep, I barely got us out of there! Seems he escaped and got another go at that ESP machine!"

"I'm transporting you back to the tower immediately. We must get Green Arrow into the medical bay at once. Batman, Flash, I need you down there. I'll take care of Green Arrow." J'onn ordered everyone to where they'd be most useful. Flash frowned at J'onn before he went off.

"J'onn, we could use your help on this one. He's got ESP…" Flash began.

"I cannot keep him out of my mind, Flash. He has already caught me once. You and Batman have already fought him, you are as able as I am to defeat him." J'onn replied.

Batman's eyes narrowed momentarily. "We could still use someone he'd find difficult to control." Batman said, turning around to look at Jay.

Jay met Batman's gaze directly. She knew exactly what he was thinking. If this Dr. Destiny didn't know she had two minds, he wouldn't know to control both of them at the same time. It might be a crucial advantage.

_I don't want to go back down there._

_We could help. Prove we're not just an unstable psycho. _

_I hate it down there._

_We'd come right back._

"I'll come." Jay announced, striding forward to join Flash and Batman. Batman nodded, and the three headed for the transporter platform.


	2. Deserted

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Deserted**

Jay shivered in the cold wind coming off the water. Naturally Dr. Destiny would put himself on the docks. Where in the world these docks were, Jay wasn't entirely sure. Ten times out of ten, she'd point north in the wrong direction, so she wasn't even going to pretend that she had a clue where she was right now. And she didn't want to embarrass herself by admitting to the Flash and Batman that she didn't know where they were.

But it had to be somewhere north if the cold was anything to judge by. Jay hated being cold. It made her deeply regret the tank top and light jeans she was wearing.

_We have to come up with a decent costume if we're going to do these missions._

_Where are we going to get a costume?_

_We could ask someone where they got theirs…_

"Concentrate." Jay mumbled to herself, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

They'd split up once they'd arrived on the ground, Batman and Flash each going in different directions and leaving Jay to explore a third. This suited Jay just fine since being around Flash wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world for her. It was a job in itself just to keep a lid on all the feelings that boiled up whenever he was around.

They were all looking for signs of John Dee… they needed to find him before he found them. This was where he'd attacked Black Canary and Green Arrow. Jay didn't understand why he'd still be here, since he'd have to know the Justice League would come after him. Then again, that was a reason why he still would be here- his aim in life was to destroy the Justice League.

_Obviously the man needs a few hobbies._

Jay chuckled under her breath, for once agreeing entirely with herself.

---

Flash hummed a show tune as he zipped around the warehouses and storage sheds of the docks, checking every nook and cranny that could hide a grown man. The tune was distracting, especially since he'd never been so great at thinking about many things at the same time. He kept forgetting to hum. Since it was apparently the only way he could keep John Dee out of his mind, this was a bad thing.

And once again, he'd been forgetting to hum… He was lucky Dr. Destiny hadn't snagged him yet.

Flash ran into another warehouse, and was on his way out again when he heard a soft rustle. He stopped, mid stride, and held still, listening.

"You've forgotten to hum again, Flash."

Flash screamed wordlessly as Dr. Destiny took a hold of his mind.

---

Jay's head snapped round at the scream that echoed through the deserted docks. That didn't sound at all good. Just one scream, too- how on earth was she going to get to where it came from? Jay set off at a trot, traveling in a straight line towards where she'd heard the shout. If she could keep going straight she was sure to stay on track. This could work, provided that…

_We don't run into a blank wall. Oh look. A blank wall. _

_Shut up. You're not helping. _

Jay stopped and contemplated the solid wall. She could blast a hole through it with her magic, but that wasn't very responsible. Still, either Batman or Flash could be in a lot of trouble, surely getting there quickly was appropriate. Then again, wanton destruction of public property… not such a good idea. If she turned around though, she'd lose the direction, and there wasn't any kind of obvious landmark that could act as her anchor. Whoever claimed a sense of direction wasn't crucial definitely wasn't into superhero work.

_We have to think of something! They need our help!_

Jay chewed her lip and thought as hard as she could. If she could just get over this warehouse, she could keep going in a straight line. But it wasn't as if she could jump really high, or climb walls. Her main skill was picking things up and moving them around.

_Hey wait. You picked Superman up._

_I know that. So?_

_So, can we pick ourself up? _

Jay's eyebrows rose as she stared down at herself. It was a possibility. If she could just reach for her magic, wrap it round herself, then imagine pulling up with it…

Jay gasped and lost her concentration as she felt her feet leave the ground. It worked! Now all she had to do was keep it up.

Concentrating as hard as she could, Jay lifted herself up, taking herself up above the roof of the warehouse and setting herself not-so-gently down on the flat rooftop. She resisted the urge to do a victory dance and set off at a trot in the direction the scream had come from. At every break between warehouses she levitated herself across the air, and by the fourth one, she was getting pretty good. But she still hadn't found any signs of Dr. Destiny, Flash or Batman.

_Oh snap! There they are!_

Jay leaned over the roof of the warehouse and checked out the situation. John Dee was standing triumphantly just below her, chortling away like a cat purring over cream. He looked a bit rumpled and was finger combing his hair, while Batman writhed on the ground not ten feet away. Obviously Bats had forgotten his tune...

_We're calling him Bats now? _

_Can we focus, please?_

Flash was standing rock still in the entrance to one of the warehouses, his face a mask of horror as he battled whatever internal demons Dr. Destiny had revived.

Jay pulled back from the lip of the roof and searched her surroundings for something she could drop on John Dee. It didn't have to be very large- just something big enough to knock him out when she dropped it on his head. It didn't take her long to find an empty wooden crate and carefully and quietly lift it really high and levitate it across so it was just above John Dee. Peering over the lip of the roof, and hoping desperately that he wouldn't look up, Jay released the box and watched it hurtle downwards.

In retrospect, she really ought to have noticed the pipe sticking out of the side of the building. Her only defense was that it was pretty dark.

The box hit the pipe with a crash, and swerved off course in mid air. The noise alerted John Dee to the box falling with malicious intent towards his precious head and he dived out of the way just before the box exploded on the ground. Then he, naturally, looked up.

Jay pulled her head back with a curse, scrambled up and started running away. She had to get far enough away so that she could sneak back around from the other side and attack him again. She had no way of keeping him out of her mind so a frontal attack wasn't an option.

"Uh uh uh. Where do you think you're going?" The voice was soft, teasing. He knew he was more powerful than she was and he knew she couldn't escape now that he'd found her. Jay felt the first smoldering of rage at her helplessness as her legs stopped running and she smashed into the ground. The image of Dr Destiny materialized before her, his skull grinning down at her patronizingly.

"I don't believe we've met." Dr Destiny moved closer, peering at Jay. "A new member? Pity you won't survive very long."

Jay didn't reply, her mind scrambling desperately to regain control of herself. His hypnotizing voice was sending shudders of fear through her, and as she watched the world melted away, leaving her floating on a rough circle of concrete in the midst of a huge black void. Around her she could see the stars that she was so fond of. Just endless stars, with no sign of any other ledges like hers. No sign of anybody else.

_Are you there?_ Jay sent the thought into the depths of her mind, and waited for the reply. It was such a stupid question. Of course her other self was there. Where else would she be?

But there wasn't any reply. For once in her short life Jay didn't have the comfort of another voice reassessing the situation and discussing the options. For the first time, ever, she was really alone.

As the realization hit, she opened her mouth and screamed.


	3. Fried

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Fried**

Wow. The other me sure can scream. I didn't realise she depended on me that much. Bit of a crap way to have to find out. I can't help her right now- if I speak to her, let her know I'm still here, Dr. Destiny will figure out I'm here. And if he gets us both, then we'll never get out of this.

It's always interesting how people don't seem to realise that a psychic link goes both ways. Take Dr. Destiny, for example. He's incredibly powerful, and I have to admit that if I wasn't buried so deep in our mind that he hasn't got a hope of finding me, he'd totally be kicking our ass. But the truth is most people will tend to assume that another person is perfectly normal. They won't look at, say, an 18 year old girl and think "Yup, she's got to have a split personality."

So when they take control of one half of the aforementioned 18 year old girl, they don't consider that this still leaves another half of her mind completely free and in control of the rather extensive reserves of magic power that one could find in, for example, me.

And have I mentioned the great, glowing bridge between our minds created by the psychic link that's currently in place? Well, it's there, shining away for all it's worth, and providing yours truly with a highway into Dr Destiny's mind.

It's laughably easy to send a surge of power into his brain, sparking off millions of electrical impulses that basically give him the equivalent of an epileptic fit. I'd hate to overdo it and fry his brain but… who am I kidding? I'd love to overdo it and fry his brain. But I'm in the Justice League now. We don't do things like that.

Hopefully all I've done is put him in a coma for a while. If it's a worryingly long coma, I can always beg ignorance of what I was doing. Hey, I'm no neuroscientist.


	4. Home

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Home**

_Stop screaming and look around you!_

Jay gasped in relieved shock as the voice reverberated through her mind, her eyes snapping open to a view of the warehouse rooftop and the inky black night sky above her.

"Where did you go? Where were you? I screamed and screamed for you!" Jay babbled, unable to keep herself under control, and trying to make sense out of what had just happened. Not three feet from her, John Dee was lying stunned, his eyes staring unseeingly up at the stars, a string of drool forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Calm down. Just blank your mind, and get a hold of yourself. I'm here now." Jay answered herself, her entire demeanor changing from panicked to calm and collected in a heartbeat.

_Why didn't you answer me? _

The voice rang through Jay's mind, her other self still too frightened to gain enough control to retake the body.

"I couldn't let you know I was still here. Not if we didn't want him to find me out." Jay replied, making her voice as soothing as possible. She concentrated on slowing the heart beating in their body, and getting the breathing under control as the adrenaline rush finally began to recede. Gaining control was crucial. With the panic had come a mild jolt, and she was doing her level best to tamp it down. That meant reassuring herself. "You were fine."

_I can't do that. I can't be alone. Promise you'll never leave me alone._

"I'll always be here. I've got nowhere else to go." Jay soothed. "Even if you can't hear me, even if I can't answer you, I'll always be right here."

_You'll always be with me._

It wasn't a question; it was a statement of fact. Jay felt her other self finally regain her control, calming herself down and repeating the sentence to herself. Another two breaths and Jay relinquished her hold on the body, freeing herself back into the expanse of their mind.

Jay collapsed as she regained control of the body, but didn't have the energy to keep herself upright. Kneeling, leaning her upper body on her arms, Jay concentrated on just breathing and reassuring herself that she'd never been alone. Her other self had got their breathing and heart rate back to normal, although the residual fear in Jay brought it back up a bit when she took over again. Her other self continued murmuring reassurances in the back of her mind, reasserting her continued presence over and over again. In another minute, Jay had herself back under control.

In a streak of red and gold, Flash appeared beside her, leaning over her to check that she was ok.

"Looks like he did a number on you." Flash commented, as he studied her with concern. Jay barely suppressed her impulse to jerk away from Flash. She managed a weak, insincere smile, and pushed herself up on to her feet. Satisfied that Jay was alright, Flash turned his attention to the catatonic Dee. A wicked grin spread across his face. "Not as big a number as you did on him! Well done!"

"He never even saw it coming. It didn't occur to him that there'd be another me." Jay said softly, but with a core of malice in her voice. Flash grinned at her, and Jay felt her face flush slightly, to her consternation.

_Wow. His smile is even nicer in real life._

_No. Shut up. You did NOT just have that thought._

"Let's get him back to prison." Batman stalked out of the shadows, taking in the situation and striding over to John Dee. After checking that Dee was still alive, Batman picked him up and stalked off towards the sound of the police sirens screeching their way to the warehouse. Batman didn't as much as glance at Jay.

Flash sauntered up and nudged Jay. "He thinks you did good too."

Jay quirked an eyebrow at Flash, stepping away slightly.

"Sure, it's not obvious, but that's just Bats." Flash added, smirking and shrugging. "Come on, let's go home."

---

_Home_. That's such a nice word. I've never really had a home, but I guess after being there for a few months, the Watchtower has kind of become my home. I feel safe there. I don't feel like something's going to happen to make them not want me any more. Like the lights falling when I get angry, or the water boiling in the pipes. The little things that used to happen when I used to lose control… in one of my foster homes they thought I had a ghost trailing me, and refused to keep me after four months. Or the time I twisted my ankle and a light bulb burst every time I put any weight on it. Those people shifted me faster than I could apologise.

In the JLU, it's a useful power. Not something to be scared of.

_Unless you're Dr. Destiny!_

And they're ok with my being… different.

_Clinically insane is the preferred term, I think._

I have a _home_.


End file.
